We have been renovating our house a little at a time as we have had the funds and time. We have started with the priority jobs and are working through our list as we can.
I have recently begun to complete the floor replacement. You see it is a project that I started three years ago and had been doing one room at a time. I have been able to do two rooms in the last couple of years and now have acquired the material to complete this flooring phase, so yes, I’ve started again.
The problem with flooring is it’s kind of foundational in that if you plan to move walls, add a fireplace or change a room size, you have to solidify those plans before you put the floor down, or you will have to redo the floor again.
Our plans have been morphing and changing as we have been in the process. These ideas though promisingly wonderful can also grow the costs and the work.
Renovations are very much like and are a part of Transformations. They begin one board at a time, one thought at a time, and one change at a time. You have to get rid of the old before replacing it with the new.
Sometimes when you uncover the old, you realize that it is itself a covering for something yet older. For your renovation, your transformation to be thorough, you need to get down to the frame; the plywood; the structure. In some cases, the structure may even need to be replaced or altered. Once you are down to the structure, the foundation of your job, you can begin the restoration process, bringing it back to its original, renewed form.
Transformation happens when you alter the original structure and do something new. That’s what happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. He transforms us to make us what he has purposed for us to be. Often his work is to the core and can look confusing while you are in the middle of it. That is what it looks like when you renovate and restore. The mess often feels bigger than life and begs the question of “Is it worth it?”
It is worth all of it and it is based on the prayer that Paul offered to God, for the Philippian believers, “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6, NIV)
This life altering process is so painfully beautiful.
You don’t have to live: You get to!